Protest Inside Wisconsin State Capitol, February 2011After a lengthy wait, the contest is nearly here. On 5 June, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker faces once again his 2010 Democratic opponent, Tom Barrett, the Mayor of Milwaukee.
But will this matter beyond Wisconsin?
Boston police arrest protesters early this morning
Occupy Wall Street should be understood, then, as a further development or permutation of these political demands. One obvious and clear message of the protests, of course, is that the bankers and finance industries in no way represent us: What is good for Wall Street is certainly not good for the country (or the world). A more significant failure of representation, though, must be attributed to the politicians and political parties charged with representing the people's interests but in fact more clearly represent the banks and the creditors. Such a recognition leads to a seemingly naive, basic question: Is democracy not supposed to be the rule of the people over the polis -- that is, the entirety of social and economic life? Instead, it seems that politics has become subservient to economic and financial interests.
The result of the six recall elections today will have an impact on the short-term course of politics in Wisconsin. But their significance may lie more in their contribution to a growing participatory style of US politics. The intensive scrutiny of politics in Washington by outside interest groups and the media is not going to go away. With the increasing role of national politics in state affairs that attention engenders, it would be a surprise not to see more recalls, initiatives, and referenda take place.
Photo: Andy Manis (AP)When you put out every moral defence of the labour movement --- in Wisconsin's case, presenting the dispute as concerning the rights of all union workers – and you lose it after a long and protracted battle, then the original credibility of the unions is destroyed. Fail in Wisconsin and it becomes that much harder, despite the differences in regional politics in the US, for unions to retain any rights elsewhere. And that is why, with demonstrations planned in at least 29 states next week, Wisconsin has become Ground Zero for the immediate future of American labour unions.
Last year there seemed little likelihood there would even be a close contest in Wisconsin. The incumbent Russ Feingold is a Democrat who has been a Senator for eighteen years, in a state that has voted Democrat in the last six presidential elections (56% for Obama in 2008). Moreover, Feingold, co-sponsor of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Refrom Act, is a liberal politician known for sticking to his progressive values. He voted against the Patriot Act setting out internal security measures after 9-11, opposed the war in Iraq, and has been a consistent voice against the influence of money in elections. His campaign has not been damaged by any personal scandal, and the general reputation he enjoys is of an honest and independent politician in Washington.
And yet, the latest polls show him trailing his Republican opponent Ron Johnson by an average of 7% in the polls. The prominent FiveThirtyEight electoral website currently forecasts a 94% chance of a Republican win. This is all the more surprising because the Republican candidate has no record in politics, deciding to run for his first electoral office last year as a response to the health care reform that Feingold supported.
Johnson, a successful businessman, has managed to turn the electorate’s disillusionment with the progressive ideology of President Obama to his advantage. Though not as nationally well known as Sharron Angle in Nevada, Rand Paul in Kentucky, or Christine O’Donnell in Delaware, he is fighting on the same platform that government is out of control, run by politicians who regard the people as their servants instead of the other way around.
It is Wisconsin that best illustrates the nation’s discontent with the progressive view of government.
Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 10:53